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willowtree
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I had a reviewer recently comment on one of my short stories "the purpose of the story isn't portrayed that well in the text." I was left wondering if he wasn't right, which brought me to the question, what is 'purpose' in a work of fiction? Is 'to tell a good story' enough? Is 'a glimpse inside a couple's relationship' enough? What IS enough? Can anyone here define 'purpose' as it relates to works of fiction? I find myself looking at my work and feeling suddenly uncertain of what I'm doing. 
Sigmund Freud: "The Irish are one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no benefit whatsoever."
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sulcus
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Quote: willowtree, Saturday, 17 Dec 2011 13:51I had a reviewer recently comment on one of my short stories "the purpose of the story isn't portrayed that well in the text." I was left wondering if he wasn't right, which brought me to the question, what is 'purpose' in a work of fiction? Is 'to tell a good story' enough? Is 'a glimpse inside a couple's relationship' enough? What IS enough? Can anyone here define 'purpose' as it relates to works of fiction? I find myself looking at my work and feeling suddenly uncertain of what I'm doing. It depends on the readership you imagine you're writing for I would have thought. Lit fic has room for writing that mainly offers glimpses into character/relationship rather than fully realised beginning, middle, end stories. Most genre books demand a story. As long as you are reasonably certain what the merit of your book is, why someone might pick it up to read and enjoy it, then you should be in good shape. There has to be an entertainment quotient to any book. For we are asking a person to devote time to read it as against any of the other things they could do with their leisure time.
"A,B&E", "Not In My Name" and "52FF" (flash fiction anthology) all available on Amazon Kindle"How a psychopath makes sweet love. I can get you ringside. Royal box even."
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Jeffrey Jones
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Only the writer can truly know if he/she has achieved their intended purpose in writing a piece of fiction, unless he/she is generous enough to tell us what their intentions were.
That said, some fiction has an obvious purpose - to make money. If it fails, it does not achieve its purpose.
But other successes or failures are harder to guage. Does the writer hope to make the reader see things from a different point of view, for instance? This is almost impossible to call - for one thing, the writer has no way of knowing the perspective of the reader. Does the writer wish to make the reader think? Again - how does the writer know the reader is capable of thought?
I suppose the writer must make certain assumptions of his audience in this regard.
But that applies the other way round, too. The reader has certain assumptions regarding the writer; one of these if that he has some purpose for writing his book. And if no sense of purpose is communicated through the writing, the
relationship between writer and reader breaks down.
In short, if the reader sees no reason why the author has bothered writing the book, then he is unlikely to bother continuing to read it.
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willowtree
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Thanks for the response, sulcus. Are you saying audience and purpose in fiction are intertwined? To tell you the truth, I don't think of a particular audience when I write something. I just sort of write what's there to write. How does one decide who one's audience is and how is that related to purpose? I'm not trying to be difficult. Just trying to get a handle on purpose in fiction, if there is such a thing. Maybe people just write what's there to write and let audience and purpose emerge? Seems a bit haphazard,but maybe that's the nature of the beast?
Sigmund Freud: "The Irish are one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no benefit whatsoever."
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willowtree
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Quote: Jeffrey Jones, Saturday, 17 Dec 2011 15:52Only the writer can truly know if he/she has achieved their intended purpose in writing a piece of fiction, unless he/she is generous enough to tell us what their intentions were. That said, some fiction has an obvious purpose - to make money. If it fails, it does not achieve its purpose. But other successes or failures are harder to guage. Does the writer hope to make the reader see things from a different point of view, for instance? This is almost impossible to call - for one thing, the writer has no way of knowing the perspective of the reader. Does the writer wish to make the reader think? Again - how does the writer know the reader is capable of thought? I suppose the writer must make certain assumptions of his audience in this regard. But that applies the other way round, too. The reader has certain assumptions regarding the writer; one of these if that he has some purpose for writing his book. And if no sense of purpose is communicated through the writing, the relationship between writer and reader breaks down. In short, if the reader sees no reason why the author has bothered writing the book, then he is unlikely to bother continuing to read it. OK, so maybe instead of using the phrase 'purpose in fiction' I use 'reasons why an author bothers writing a story (book).' What are some of these 'reasons'? I mean, I can think of books I've read I would say have a definite purpose, like Ian McEwan's "Atonement" for example. Then I can see a book written for the sheer pleasure of telling a good story, like Tana French's "Faithful Place", in fact any of her books. But does that apply to short stories as well, or do short stories by their very nature need to be more purposeful? If so, what would that purpose be? OR am I talking about 'theme'? Or do I even know what I'm talking about?
Sigmund Freud: "The Irish are one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no benefit whatsoever."
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sulcus
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the market for short stories I would hazard is very different from that of novels. There exist online short story sites, the almost impossible to land short story collection by a first time author and then there is the magazine market. Of the three, the latter is the most ubiquitous and pays (unlike online sites). Magazines tend to have very clear ideas of what stories they seek. Your purpose must chime with their purpose. You wouldn't think of submitting a horror story to a magazine that serves housewives with romance for example. Just write what yoiu want to write, that tugs at your sleeve to be written. But then you may have to figure out what (and ultimately why) you have written it, not least when it comes to weigh up how to place it in a market.
"A,B&E", "Not In My Name" and "52FF" (flash fiction anthology) all available on Amazon Kindle"How a psychopath makes sweet love. I can get you ringside. Royal box even."
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safiaadam
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Sulcus Have you seen Jeffrey Jones's latest uploaded work? Take a deep breath and count to 10 before looking. Safia
Follow your bliss
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safiaadam
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Quote: willowtree, Saturday, 17 Dec 2011 13:51I had a reviewer recently comment on one of my short stories "the purpose of the story isn't portrayed that well in the text." I was left wondering if he wasn't right, which brought me to the question, what is 'purpose' in a work of fiction? Is 'to tell a good story' enough? Is 'a glimpse inside a couple's relationship' enough? What IS enough? Can anyone here define 'purpose' as it relates to works of fiction? I find myself looking at my work and feeling suddenly uncertain of what I'm doing. Hi Willowtree As you know, I loved Halloween Baby and am a fan of your stories in general. I am convinced that you will be a published writer before very long. Please don't let something which seems like a throw-away remark knock your confidence. I took a quick look at the review and the reviewer's biography - do you look at the biographies of reviewers? I do - it helps to digest any points which I disagree with, or to evaluate if this person knows what he/she is talking about. It also helps to keep everything in perspective - just one person, just one opinion, etc, etc. The reviewer in question seems to be linking 'purpose' to 'genre' as far as I can see, so I think his comment is more about that. I think he means, who is the intended readership - do you want to make people laugh, do you want to scare them ......? He says, to paraphrase, 'it might be comedy, it was a bit like horror at one point'. I think if you view all this together, the idea of 'purpose' becomes a bit clearer. This review was written by a presumably young male student, so I don't think Halloween Baby is aimed at him really, do you agree? Perhaps he is totally oblivious to women's fiction and the publication of stories such as this in magazines aimed at a female readership. By the way, a reviewer of The Yeoman's Daughter (one of my postings here) once irked me by saying as far as he could see it just dealt with one family over a few centuries and didn't have a clear message or some kind of universal purpose to it (again I'm paraphrasing). He felt all fiction should set out in the beginning to explain to the reader what the themes and messages were going to be. Can you imagine how tiresome such writing would be to read? Don't lose any sleep over it and note that in the same review, you are told that you are a terrific writer. All the very best, Safia
Follow your bliss
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sulcus
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Quote: safiaadam, Saturday, 17 Dec 2011 17:40Sulcus Have you seen Jeffrey Jones's latest uploaded work? Take a deep breath and count to 10 before looking. Safia Meh, I prefer the original verson...
"A,B&E", "Not In My Name" and "52FF" (flash fiction anthology) all available on Amazon Kindle"How a psychopath makes sweet love. I can get you ringside. Royal box even."
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PERRY
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I'm certain irises don't have sockets and, being muscles do not "tilt" as much as contract and release. I preferred the counting to ten.
This post was last edited by PERRY, 18 Dec 2011, 00:33
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Purpose in Fiction
17 Dec 2011, 13:51
